Sanjay Gupta gets nod for character names in ‘…Wadala’

Mumbai, Dec 21 (IANS) Director Sanjay Gupta says he has recieved permission to name the characters in his film “Shootout At Wadala” after the real-life policemen involved in the 1982 incident in Mumbai.

“We’ve got a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the police department. So essentially, we’re free to name any of the cops who were part of the incident. We’re now in the process of covering all legal hurdles as far as naming every character from the underworld is concerned,” said Gupta.

“Shootout At Wadala”, a presequel to the 2007 film “Shootout At Lokhandwala”, recreates the gunfight in which gangster Manya Surve was shot dead.

Instead of hesitating to admit that the movie is inspired by a real incident, Gupta’s film will begin with a claimer: “Everything you’re about to watch happened on the streets of Mumbai.”

Gupta has sought the services of Mumbai lawyer Ameet Nayak to make sure all loopholes are covered so that he can call a spade a spade. Or a Dawood, a Dawood.

Interestingly, the marriage of the real and reel characters would be announced at the beginning of the film with images of gangster Surve and supercop Isaque Bagwan fusing into the images of actors John Abraham and Anil Kapoor, who play the respective parts.

“There’s no point in beating around the bush. No point in getting into a real-life plot and then turning back half-way with semi-fictional devices. I want every character to be named and depicted the way they were.

“You either make a fiction or a non-fiction film. There’s no middle ground for this. I am making a film based on an incident that happened in 1982 and I’ve got legal advice to make sure I can tell my story without fear of a backlash,” said Gupta.